Waunakee residents will vote on two separate questions; one to borrow funds specifically for facility construction and the other to support the ongoing operational costs associated with the added space. While related, Wisconsin law requires that each of these questions be presented separately for individual vote.

Question #1: Construct and Renovate Schools • $44,800,000

Construct a new, two-story, 700 student Intermediate School for all 5-6 students on district-owned land on West Woodland Drive, west of County Road Q

Waunakee residents will vote on two separate questions; one to borrow funds specifically for facility construction and the other to support the ongoing operational costs associated with the added space. While related, Wisconsin law requires that each of these questions be presented separately for individual vote.

Question #1
Shall the Waunakee Community School District, Dane County, Wisconsin be authorized to issue pursuant to Chapter 67 of the Wisconsin Statutes, general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $44,800,000 for the public purpose of paying the cost of a school building and improvement program consisting of the construction, equipping and furnishing of a new Intermediate School for students in grades 5 and 6; the construction of an addition to and the renovation, furnishing and equipping of Prairie Elementary School; and the renovation, furnishing and equipping of the existing Intermediate and Heritage Elementary School complex which will then transition to and serve as Heritage Elementary School?

Question #2
Shall the Waunakee Community School District, Dane County, Wisconsin be authorized to exceed the revenue limit specified in Section 121.91, Wisconsin Statutes, by $540,000 in the 2014-2015 school year and by an additional $540,000 a year in each of the 2015-2016, 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 school years for a total increase of $2,160,000 for the 2017-2018 school year and thereafter, for recurring purposes consisting of paying operating expenses for the expanded school facilities, establishing a District-wide capital maintenance fund and funding District-wide technology?

The highest area of need is additional space at the Intermediate level (grades 5-6). Although the Heritage Elementary population has been stable for the last few years, student enrollment numbers in grades 5-6 continue to grow. This growth has resulted in the Intermediate School needing to expand into the Heritage Elementary school more each year, placing a burden on the shared Intermediate/Heritage building. The Intermediate School has staff sharing classrooms and the school is utilizing mobile computer labs to open up instruction space. The Intermediate School is currently over its capacity level, and has two classrooms located in portable trailers behind the school.

Additional space is also needed to accommodate student enrollment growth at the elementary level (K-4). Arboretum Elementary was opened in 2006 and is currently 30 students over capacity. This school has special education programs sharing space and class sizes that are at the maximum capacity allowable by Board of Education policy. Prairie Elementary currently is using its designated music room as a kindergarten classroom, and the Large Group Instruction Room is also being used for additional kindergarten space.

If approved by voters, the construction of a two-story, 700-student Intermediate School for all 5-6 students (with flexibility for expansion in future phases) will be located on 39-acre district-owned site on West Woodland Drive, west of County Road Q.

To view preliminary SITE PLANS for the new Intermediate School click here.

The new Intermediate School will be designed and constructed to take advantage of reasonable and cost effective opportunities to minimize odors and maximize indoor air quality. Government regulations currently exist for farming practices, such as the application of manure on fields. The school district cannot hold adjacent property owners to a higher standard than what is legally required, nor control exterior air quality or odor. The district does not anticipate that odors from neighboring farms will have an impact on the interior air quality at the new Intermediate School.

When Prairie Elementary was built thirteen years ago, it was designed to accommodate six classrooms per grade level, however, at that time the district only had a half-day kindergarten program. Since the district currently has full-day kindergarten, additional kindergarten space is needed to fully utilize Prairie Elementary School as it was designed.

In recent years, the music room and the large group instruction room have been utilized for kindergarten space. This reconfiguration of use of space has impacted the music program and greatly limited the ability for staff to pull larger groups of students together for instruction and programs.

To view preliminary SITE PLANS for the proposed construction and renovation projects click here.

If the referendum question pertaining to building a new Intermediate School and adding four classrooms to Prairie Elementary School (Q#1) fails, there will be both short-term and long-term impacts. The Board will return to the community for input, facility plans will be reviewed and revised and a plan will be presented to the community for potential referendum as early as February or April of 2015.

Since structural solutions to address the student enrollment growth have been exhausted at the Intermediate School, and in the absence of additional elementary school space, options such as adding additional portable classrooms or renting space in the community for instructional purposes will need to be explored and implemented.

If the first question related to construction of the new school passes, and the operational funding question (Q#2) fails, the costs to operate the new building (utilities, custodial work, maintenance, etc.) would have to come from reductions to existing programs and the overall budget for existing schools. Because the cost to operate a new school is high, as is our commitment to maintain educational programs across the district, it is certain that the operational funding question would be brought back to the public again. Question #2 also provides an opportunity for the District to allocate money to a new account (Fund 41) that has been established to help us plan more effectively for larger capital maintenance projects for ALL our schools (roofs, boilers, HVAC units, etc.). These large capital maintenance projects have traditionally been funded through referendum.

The Waunakee Community School District currently has an enrollment of approximately 4,000 students. Of these students, 145 students are non-residents and have been accepted through Open Enrollment policy. The school district is required by state law to accept non-resident students, if space is available, through the state’s open enrollment program. Funding for open enrolled students is provided through the State’s Open Enrollment Program.

Space is not currently available in all WCSD schools and many open enrollment requests have been denied by the School Board based on current class sizes and school building capacity. The School Board has tightened up the Open Enrollment Policy in the last two years to limit the impact of open enrollment on our district. We currently are not accepting any new Open Enrollment students at the Intermediate School, Middle School and many grades at the elementary level. Although we have capacity at the high school building, we limit the number of open enrollment students by setting the “number of available slots” to board policy and existing staffing levels. This policy yields a very conservative approach to Open Enrollment across the school district.

For the 2014/2015 school year, 41 district resident students elected to open enroll out of the district. The net gain to WCSD from open enrollment is 104 students (the difference between 145 non-resident students open enrolling into the district and 41 resident students open enrolling out to another school district.).

The Waunakee Community School District Board of Education and Administration began the development of a comprehensive long-range planning process in 2011-2012 based on feedback we received from the broader community for a longer-term vision for the school district and a plan to accommodate student enrollment growth.

The Board of Education has held each of its planning meetings in open session and the meetings were advertised to the public. A community survey was conducted in September of 2009 to obtain feedback on the facility planning process, and additional survey documents were used with the community in 2013 and 2014. The most comprehensive survey was completed in the spring of 2014 by School Perceptions, and received over 2,500 responses on the long-range planning options being considered by the school district.

Additionally, the long-range facility planning work conducted by MDRoffers Consulting consisted of approximately 20 community engagement meetings over a two-year period to solicit feedback on community values, input on school facility planning parameters, and variables such as school building grade configurations. The input provided through these feedback sessions was applied to Mr. Roffer's final report to the school board.

The construction of a two-story, 700-student Intermediate School for all 5-6 students (with flexibility for expansion in future phases) on a 39-acre district-owned site on West Woodland Drive, west of County Road Q.

Construction of a four classroom addition to Prairie Elementary (K-4), prioritized capital maintenance projects, and a secure main entrance.

Light renovations and prioritized capital maintenance needs at Heritage/Intermediate School to create a dedicated K-4 elementary school (Heritage Elementary) and a secure main entrance.

If this referendum passes, all of the students in the current Intermediate School (grades 5-6) will be relocated to the new Intermediate School to be built on a 39 acre site owned by the school district on Woodland Drive, West of County Hwy. Q. This move will allow for Heritage Elementary to grow from a 3-track school (three classrooms per grade level) to a 6-track school (six classrooms per grade level), by being able to expand into the space vacated by the 5th and 6th grade students.

This plan will address the students in grades 5-6 by providing them with a new school with room to grow and that will be expandable, when needed. Also, the current Heritage/Intermediate site will provide space for the growing elementary population. The November 4th referendum addresses space concerns for both the K-4 Elementary Schools, and for the grade 5-6 Intermediate students.

Yes, the school system will need to do adjustment to elementary school attendance boundaries in order to maintain level growth in each of the three elementary schools. The long-range plan that is proposed includes the least amount of adjustment that other plans would have required. Also, since this long range plan calls for the district to have only one Intermediate School and one Middle School, there is no need to create boundaries at these levels. Work will begin on any elementary redistricting after voters have approved the project in the November 4th referendum.

The Waunakee Community School District has worked with MDRoffers Consulting, and recently hired Eppstein Uhen Architects and J.H. Findorff & Sons, Inc. to work with the Board of Education, administration and community to define needs, priorities, options and costs for addressing growth and capital maintenance projects.

In 1993 the State of Wisconsin implemented a cap on the amount of revenue a school district can receive from state aid and from local property tax payers. The amount of this cap is determined each year based on many factors, but is heavily driven by student enrollment. In Waunakee, the increase in student enrollment has provided the necessary revenues to maintain and improve our instructional programs.

However, the construction of a new school and added instructional space creates the need for additional funds to heat, cool, and operate these facilities. These costs cannot be absorbed within the budget under the revenue caps. The revenue cap law requires that if a school district wants to exceed the revenue caps, that approval is necessary through a referendum process. Any amount that is approved through referendum above the revenue cap limit is then applied to the local tax levy.

The building of a new Intermediate School (700 students), adding four classrooms to Prairie Elementary, and allowing Heritage Elementary to expand in enrollment, will address growth needs in grades K-6 for approximately the next ten years, dependent on the speed of growth in the community.

The need to address growth at the middle school (grades 7-8) will occur in the next 5-10 years, based on enrollment growth, and will require a new middle school at that time. Also, at the time that a new middle school is built, the current middle school facility will become part of the high school and will provide support for the high school students well beyond 2030.

No, there is not a rendering of the façade of the school to illustrate what the school will look like from the street. The reason we do not have this picture for you is because the design phase we are currently in is conceptual from a layout perspective, with cost projections based on square footage values. We will commit the financial resources to full-design, which will include the facade, once the project is approved, at which time we can access referendum funds to pay for this detailed architectural work.

The district enrollment continues to increase even though the number of new construction permits is lower than several years ago. By state law, a fee cannot be assessed to developments or individual lots to offset school district construction or other costs.

The Waunakee Community School District has been very conservative in its budgeting and spending practices and is ranked below the state and county average for expenditures per student. Despite below average spending, student performance is well above state average in all areas and WCSD ranks in the top 10 districts in the state.

For the last several years, additional staff positions and programmatic advances have been created through reallocation of existing funds, careful utilization of one-time money (such as grants) so that we do not add permanent costs to the school district, and through reorganizing existing debt to capitalize on lower interest rates. The school district also changed the employee health insurance to a lower cost plan multiple times, and has restructured the post-employment benefits for staff so there will be no post-employment liability in the future.

Question #1: Construct and Renovate Schools • $44,800,000
The estimated maximum tax impact for Q#1 is $0.91 per $1,000 of estimated fair market property value, for a period of 20 years. This translates into $91 for every $100,000 of estimated fair market property value per year.

To help minimize the impact on taxpayers, the total tax increase for Question #1 would be spread out over three (3) property tax years. District residents would first note the increase on their December 2015 tax bill, with the full impact in effect by the December 2017 tax bill.

Question #2: Operating Expenses • $2,160,000 on a Recurring Basis
The estimated maximum tax impact for Q#2 is $0.95 per $1,000 of estimated fair market property value. This translates into $95 for every $100,000 of estimated fair market property value per year, on a recurring (ongoing) basis.

To help minimize the impact on taxpayers, the total tax increase for Question #2 would be spread out over four (4) property tax years. District residents would first note the increase on their December 2014 tax bill, with the full impact in effect by the December 2017 tax bill.

To understand your estimated property tax increase for each of the referendum questions, click here.

As the Waunakee community (and its tax base) continues to grow, future school district residents will help support our school facilities. Preliminary tax impact estimates for both referendum questions are based on the district’s equalized property value. For Question #1 (issuing bonds for construction) a phased borrowing approach (20-years each) is planned using an interest rate projection of 4.75%.

There are two different types of operating referendums that ask permission of taxpayers to exceed the revenue cap, recurring and non-recurring. Recurring operating referendums are permanent, while non-recurring referendums are for a defined period of time. Question #2 on the November 2014 referendum is a recurring operating referendum. This means it will become a permanent part of our operational budget.

Yes, we believe that the tax impacts for both referendum questions are conservative as we are using interest rates above the current market rates, and we are using property values below what is projected for the future. The housing market is continually getting stronger and more houses are being built across the school district. The more houses that are added to our tax base, the more the cost of the referendum will get spread over a greater population of homes, thereby reducing the cost on each property tax payer.

The question related to exceeding the revenue limit for recurring operational costs includes funds for heating, cooling, utilities, additional custodial and maintenance staff, and technology department needs. Also, the district has established a Capital Maintenance Fund to place dollars for continued facility maintenance needs. As part of this referendum, $300,000 annually will be added to this fund to provide the district with the ability to plan for and address on-going facility maintenance needs.

Many other factors impact the local school tax levy. For example, when the state reduces the amount of direct school aid it provides to public schools, under current educational funding policy, this scenario creates a local property tax levy increase. When Waunakee receives more state aid you usually see your tax rate go down, and when Waunakee receives a decrease in state aid you will notice a local tax levy increase. Both of these scenarios do not change the budget for the school district, they just modify where the money is coming from—state aid or local property taxes. Waunakee receives more state funds through the school finance system than many districts, since state aid is largely determined by enrollment, and since our total district property value is lower compared to school districts with high value lake and recreation property.

The Waunakee Community School District continually tracks its student enrollment trends. Each year the students enrolled in the district are moved forward to the next grade level, and local census data is used to predict the number of incoming kindergarten students. Each class also has a variable added to account for recent growth trends and the movement of students from the parochial school system to the public school district. This method of predicting growth works well for short-term or year-to-year projections.

To address longer term growth projections, the school district contracts with MDRoffers Consulting, a firm specializing in urban planning. Their lead planner, Mark Roffers, provides a comprehensive growth analysis by looking closely at growth trends over time for 51 identified neighborhoods of our school district. Mr. Roffers also uses the University of Wisconsin Applied Population Lab data, recent growth trends, housing starts, economic conditions, and other local factors to compile a report that is unique to Waunakee.

Under the current State of Wisconsin school funding system, enrollment growth is a positive factor for a school district. Enrollment growth provides the resources necessary to maintain existing programs, and to improve educational opportunities for students. School districts with no enrollment growth or declining enrollment growth do not have the resources necessary to maintain existing programs, and program and staffing reductions occur on an annual basis as a result. These reductions lead to further enrollment declines, and the cycle continues.

Enrollment growth, while a “positive” under the current school funding system, will result in a need to expand facilities over time. These facility expansions can be funded through loan programs over a 20-year period of time, which means future residents of the community will help pay for the cost of the facilities.

The school district has worked cooperatively with local municipal officials over the years to works towards a moderate student enrollment growth that allows for the school district to maintain high quality educational program for students.

The construction of a new Intermediate School (700 students), adding four classrooms to Prairie Elementary, and allowing Heritage Elementary to expand in enrollment, will address growth needs in grades K-6 for approximately the next ten years, dependent on the speed of growth in the community.

The need to address growth at the middle school (grades 7-8) will occur in the next 5-10 years, based on enrollment growth, and will require a new middle school at that time. Also, at the time that a new middle school is built, the current middle school facility will become part of the high school campus and will provide the capacity required to support high school student enrollment well beyond 2030.

As the middle school’s enrollment increases in the short-term, space will be shared with the high school. This option has been utilized in the past when space has been tight for programs such as foreign language.

The need to address growth at the middle school (grades 7-8) will occur in the next 5-10 years, based on enrollment growth, and will require a new middle school at that time. Also, at the time that a new middle school is built, the current middle school facility will become part of the high school campus and will provide the capacity required to support high school student enrollment well beyond 2030.

The building of a new Intermediate School (700 students), adding four classrooms to Prairie Elementary, and allowing Heritage Elementary to expand in enrollment, will address growth needs in grades K-6 for approximately the next ten years, dependent on the speed of growth in the community.

The need to address growth at the middle school (grades 7-8) will occur in the next 5-10 years, based on enrollment growth, and will require a new middle school at that time. Also, at the time that a new middle school is built, the current middle school facility will become part of the high school and will provide support for the high school students well beyond 2030.

As the middle school’s enrollment increases, in the short-term, space will be shared with the high school. This option has been utilized in the past for programs such as foreign language, when space has been tight.

The need to address growth at the middle school (grades 7-8) will occur in the next 5-10 years, based on enrollment growth, and will require a new middle school at that time. Also, at the time that a new middle school is built, the current middle school facility will become part of the high school and will provide support for the high school students well beyond 2030.

The most comprehensive source of information is found on the District's website at www.waunakee.k12.wi.us/referendum2014. Look for links to Fact Sheets, Site Plans, Understanding the Costs, News, Reports, Voter Info and upcoming Events to learn more.

A comprehensive referendum newsletter will be mailed to every household in October. Community members are encouraged to attend any of the upcoming events to learn more: